


maybe home is somewhere i have never been before

by yaminogemu



Series: fem/feb but i do what i want [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Blizzards & Snowstorms, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Jinchuuriki-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:26:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29349654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaminogemu/pseuds/yaminogemu
Summary: Yugito herself had been raised and trained on the border of Lightning, very close to the Land of Snow. She didn’t particularly enjoy this kind of weather but she could deal with it. Her partner, however, spent most of her life in the very mild Land of Fire.When the temperature dropped, Kurenai got cranky.captivateortrapped
Relationships: Nii Yugito/Yuuhi Kurenai
Series: fem/feb but i do what i want [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2164353
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	maybe home is somewhere i have never been before

Yugito slammed open the heavy wooden door, anxious to escape to the warmth of her home. The doorknob hit the wall behind it with a crack and frigid air came rushing through the entrance. She heard a squeal, followed by the sound of several items hitting the ground.

“Close the door! Close the door!” Kurenai called out from around the corner. Yugito obliged; she closed the door and began pulling off her boots, caked in snow as they were. She was shaking stray snow clumps out of her hair when Kurenai peeked her head into the entryway.

Only her eyes were visible, bundled up as she was under a mountain of blankets. Just two red dots and black fringe. The rest of Yugito’s partner was one giant lump of quilt. Yugito valiantly controlled the urge to laugh.

“You’re back!” Kurenai exclaimed. “How is it?”

Yugito had managed to trudge her way into the town proper, although it had taken much more time than usual. Predictions of a snowstorm were completely founded, flakes were coming down in sheets. The frigid temperature didn’t help matters much. Wind bit into anyone unfortunate enough to be out there.

“Cold.” Yugito answered. She flicked the scarf out from around her neck, causing soft pieces of ice to fly every which-way. Kurenai’s nose scrunched in displeasure when one landed on her face. “There’s definitely going to be a few more inches tonight.”

“Gross.” Kurenai said solemnly.

“It’s not so bad.” Yugito tried to reason weakly. Kurenai seemed less than impressed.

Yugito herself had been raised and trained on the border of Lightning, very close to the Land of Snow. She didn’t particularly enjoy this kind of weather but she could deal with it. Her partner, however, spent most of her life in the very mild Land of Fire.

When the temperature dropped, Kurenai got _cranky_.

“Did you eat?” Now that Yugito had adjusted somewhat to her new surroundings and removed more of her gear, she could smell a tantalizing aroma coming from the kitchen.

“Not yet, I was waiting for you.” Kurenai shuffled along beside Yugito as she made her way into the kitchen. “It’s in the slow-cooker.”

“What is it?”

“Soup.” 

Yugito raised an eyebrow. “Mystery soup?”

Kurenai smiled beatifically. “Soup!”

Yugito rolled her eyes and set about pulling out bowls, spoons, napkins, and the like from the cupboards above the stove. Oh, her favorite bowl was right on top of the stack. It was heavy, pale blue ceramic with tiny painted fish swimming along the rim. Kurenai had bought it for her the last time they visited Kumo. At the time it was meant to be a joke, the punchline one that Yugito is sure neither she nor Kurenai remember at this point. She ended up attached to the stupid thing, using it as often as she could. There’s a nick on the bottom from the last time B visited with his students and startled Omoi at the wrong moment. She still gets apology texts about that one, sometimes.

“Get me a bowl?” Kurenai asked from over Yugito’s shoulder. She must have been on her tip-toes to be able to rest her chin there.

“You just want to stay under the blankets.” Yugito began to make a bowl for Kurenai too.

“Can you blame me?” Kurenai whined indignantly. “It’s freezing!”

“Quit being a baby.” Yugito teased. She collected both now full bowls and herded her partner back into the living room. Kurenai immediately settled into a ball on the couch. Yugito waited while she arranged herself and carefully exposed the absolute minimum amount of skin in order to make grabby-hands at Yugito.

“Here.” Yugito placed the steaming bowl in her outstretched hands. “Move over.”

“You have plenty of couch!”

“I’m cold too, I want some blanket.”

“Fine.”

Kurenai relented. She balanced the soup in one hand and gave Yugito the smallest of openings to maneuver under the quilts. Yugito rolled her eyes but took the opportunity, taking the seat next to her partner. Kurenai immediately pressed her side to Yugito’s and started digging into her own meal. As cold as she claimed to be, Kurenai’s warmth was a welcome reprieve to the bitter cold. Yugito pressed back against her and enjoyed the moment of closeness. 

They ate their meal quickly, in a silent agreement that soup’s warmth was more important than savoring it. The wind continued to howl outside the walls of their little home. Snowflakes tore through the air, huge gusts of snow blew from one dune to another outside their window. The couple watched together in companionable silence. They were safe and, for the moment, a little warmer.

Kurenai finished her bowl first. She set the bowl on the coffee table and immediately retreated further back into her blanket cocoon. Yugito finished a few moments later. A compliment to the cook was on the tip of her tongue, but before she could vocalize her thoughts she felt an icicle wriggle it’s way under her thigh.

“Why!” She gasped out, looking to her now smirking partner in betrayal. “How are your feet so cold?!”

“Just use chakra.” Kurenai stated the obvious. “Maintain your body temperature.”

“Why haven’t _you_ just used chakra, then?”

“Too cold. You’re warmer.”

Kurenai was _ridiculous._

“Ah, reduced to a heated blanket.” Yugito groaned, covering her eyes with one arm and snagging her partner closer with the other. Kurenai happily returned the embrace and snuggled closer. Her ice cold nose was a pinpoint on Yugito’s throat.

“A heated blanket I love very, very much.”

It’d been years, but Yugito still felt her heart swell whenever Kurenai said those words.

“Love you, too.” Yugito mumbled, gathering Kurenai into her arms properly. She pushed down the blanket wrapped around her head, much to Kurenai’s displeasure. Yugito closed her eyes, cheek pressed against Kurenai’s hair, breathing in the familiar smell of her lavender shampoo.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Kurenai whispered.

“To be with you?” Yugito asked. “Of course.”

Kurenai tightened her embrace in response. Yugito could feel her even breath, in and out, in and out. She felt her own breathing slowing to match. 

“I think so too.” Kurenai pressed the words against her skin, followed by a kiss. Yugito felt goosebumps rise at the gesture.

“Hey,” Kurenai said firmly, suddenly, “don’t fall asleep.”

“Hm? We don’t have anywhere to be.” Yugito opened her eyes when Kurenai moved, dislodging her from her spot. Disgruntled, Yugito looked at her partner in silent confusion.

“Yugito.” Kurenai didn’t explain, simply stated her name. Her hand came up to Yugito’s cheek, pressing against the cool skin. Yugito met her eyes, no longer unfocused from sleep. They were bright, clear. Yugito couldn’t help but be transfixed by the brilliant red in front of her.

Kurenai’s thumb stroked back and forth softly. Yugito’s own hand raised, too, and laced their fingers together. 

“Are you ok?”

The world around them collapsed.

The first feeling to return to her was the sensation of icy coolness seeping into her pants. She gasped, searching her surroundings frantically, trying to recover her equilibrium. She was kneeling in the snow. Kurenai was with her. There was a storm, the wind was howling so loud she could hardly hear herself think. The world around them was near black. It was night, they were in a forest somewhere, trees were surrounding them, and

Kurenai’s hand was on her cheek.

Kurenai’s gloved hand was on her cheek, her face just a few inches from Yugito’s own. She was studying Yugito closely. Her breathing was heavy and harsh. Winded. She stared directly into Yugito’s eyes, searching, serious. Yugito wanted to go back, they were fine a moment ago, what,

“What was… was that -”

It wasn’t real.

“Genjutsu, yes.” Kurenai answered bluntly, neatly shredding off a piece of Yugito’s heart in the process. “I’m sorry.”

They were both bundled as warm as was possible on such short notice. She was wearing one of Yugito’s spare pants and a flak jacket they’d liberated from a particular inattentive Kumo chuunin. Yugito remembered now, if only bits and pieces. They were spotted in the Land of Snow by Kumo shinobi on an unrelated mission. Wrong place, wrong time. There was a confrontation. They were attacked. Kurenai was -

It wasn’t real.

She drew her touch from Yugito’s cheek, took her hand instead.

“It felt so real.” Yugito’s voice was wrecked, even to her own ears. Pathetic. “How?”

“I’m sorry. You had to calm down.”

Yugito couldn’t place the look on Kurenai’s face, despite the time they’d spent together. She was holding something back. There was a piece Yugito was missing.

They were attacked. Kumo wanted her back, that was a given. Jinchuuriki aren’t allowed to simply _leave._ Not that Kumo admitted she’d done such a thing, that would damage the village’s reputation. No, officially she’s on an extended mission.

That’s not a lie believed by anyone except, maybe, the newest of Kumo genin.

Unfortunately, the team they encountered was a strike force. Including _five jonin._

Kurenai was hurt. Yugito’s eyes widened in horror as she remembered. One of them got a lucky shot, Kurenai screamed. Yugito was too far away to reach her, couldn’t bear watching the woman she loved die in front of her, did the unthinkable.

She opened the seal.

“Are you okay?” Yugito gripped both of Kurenai’s hands tightly in her own. She didn’t see any obvious injuries, but she wouldn’t put it past Kurenai to be hiding them for Yugito’s sake. “Did they hurt you?”

Kurenai shook her head wordlessly. Dread grew in the pit of Yugito’s stomach.

“Did _I_ hurt you?”

Kurenai softened, a little, she could tell. She squeezed Yugito’s hands gently and gave her a weak smile.

“No.” Kurenai answered firmly. “You wouldn’t.”

Yugito had a _great many_ things to say to that. She loves Kurenai, but the kunoichi would never be truly safe with the Nibi. Yugito could have every intention of cherishing Kurenai, protecting Kurenai, and it would all be destroyed in a moment if the biju sealed inside her had the passing interest in murdering her partner.

“We have to move.” Kurenai interrupted her increasingly morbid thoughts. “Can you stand?”

“Yes.” Kurenai managed to extract them both from that disaster of a battle. Yugito could manage to run for a little while. 

The temperature was dropping. They needed to find someplace warm.

“Follow me.” Kurenai rose to her feet and took off into the falling snow.

Yugito would follow, always.

**Author's Note:**

> ok listen i know presumably genjutsu wouldn't work like this but let's go with "yugito was unconscious and matatabi was in control, this was an orchestrated dream more than a genjutsu"


End file.
